USC vs Illinois Prediction 1/11/25 College Basketball Picks

The USC Trojans and the Illinois Fighting Illini meet Saturday in college basketball action from State Farm Center. Here’s a USC vs Illinois prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best USC vs Illinois pick. We will examine:

The USC Trojans’ recent form and player performance

The Illinois Fighting Illini’s recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the USC Trojans

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Illinois Fighting Illini

Recent betting trends in games played between USC and Illinois

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the USC vs Illinois game

USC Trojans Betting Preview

The Trojans have had a couple of rough spots so far this year, but overall they’ve been mostly competitive. USC opened with a 5-1 run featuring a lone loss to California amid wins versus Chattanooga, Idaho State, Texas-Arlington, San Jose State, and Grambling. A three-game losing streak versus Saint Mary’s, New Mexico, and Oregon came after that, then four wins over Washington, Montana State, CSU Northridge, and Southern in succession. The last pair have been losses to Michigan and Indiana however, giving USC a 9-6 overall record so far.

In the Indiana game back on Wednesday, USC went into halftime holding a 38-38 tie after a competitive first half. The Trojans faded from there on a 44-31 run though, and lost 82-69 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Wesley Yates with 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Desmond Claude added 15 points with five rebounds and four assists. Both Saint Thomas and Chibuzo Agbo added 11 points apiece, combining for 15 rebounds as well.

Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview

Over on the Illinois side, they’ve been quite a strong team so far this year and have notched some impressive wins. The Illini took out Eastern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville, and Oakland in their first trio, then fell to Alabama before wins over Maryland Eastern Shore, Little Rock, and Arkansas. A 1-2 stretch came next with a lone win over Wisconsin between losses to Northwestern and Tennessee. Since then it’s been a five-game winning streak for the Illini, as they’ve taken out Missouri, Chicago State, Oregon, Washington, and Penn State.

In the Penn State game back on Wednesday, the Illini stormed out to a 45-21 edge at the break. Illinois didn’t let up from there on a 46-31 run, eventually powering out the blowout victory 91-52. Leading the way was Ben Humrichous, who scored 21 points and nine rebounds. Tre White added 20 points with seven boards and two assists. Tops in bench scoring was More Johnson, who doubled up on 20 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

Why the Illinois Fighting Illini will win

• Illinois has won 26 of its last 27 games at State Farm Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• USC has lost four of its last five day games against AP-ranked opponents.
• USC has lost the first half in six of its last seven day games against AP-ranked opponents.

USC vs Illinois Prediction

I’m going to stay with Illinois. The Illini are on another hot stretch right now and looking pretty good along the way. Illinois shot a solid 44.2 percent from the field with 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the line in their latest win over Penn State but did give up 14 turnovers for 10 Lions points. The Illini held Penn State to just 30.8 percent shooting on the other side and scored 11 points off 14 turnovers. During this five-game winning streak, Illinois has posted 80 or more points in every game, and 91 or more in three of them.

As for USC, they shot a tepid 41 percent from the field with a 40-33 rebounding deficit against a strong Indiana squad in their last outing, and things aren’t going to get any easier on Saturday. The Trojans have given up a combined 167 points over the last two games (both losses), so Illinois shouldn’t have too many issues putting up points in this one. USC is a talented enough team that they could be able to follow along for a while, but the Illini should also be able to pull away and cover in the end if all goes well.